I have recently, though not of direct intention, been directed to reviews of books and/or authors who are quite innovative in their thinking, that were less than favorable to say the least.

Why a person would want to spend their time writing lengthy bad reviews about about an author or a book is beyond me. There are some probable reasons and I’d guess at the top of the list is financial gain. Maybe a writer who relying solely on his/her writings for income is offered money to produce articles to discredit information that might cut into the profit of certain businesses.

According to Google, Timothy Ferriss is listed among the Notable Alumni at Princeton University.

Perhaps it is simply out of jealousy that some of these writers attempt to discredit Tim Ferriss. Afterall, Mr. Ferriss is quite an experienced man. He has written The Four Hour Work Week, The Four Hour Body and The Four Hour Chef, all of which have been very popular but the following is also some fascinating information about Tim Ferriss that sets him apart from many of the writers, mostly who claim “there is no science to back up the claims of Timothy Ferriss”:

Tim received his BA from Princeton University in 2000, where he studied in the Neuroscience and East Asian Studies departments. He developed his nonfiction writing with Pulitzer Prize winner John McPhee and formed his life philosophies under Nobel Prize winner Kenzaburo Oe.”

With such elite people as Arnold Schwarzenegger, Anthony Robbins, Whitney Cummings, Peter Diamandis, Sam Harris, Charles Poliquin. General Stan McChrystal. Dr. Martin Gibala, Seth Godin, Morgan Spurlock, Luis von Ahn, and many others, one would think only a complete idiot would set out to totally discredit Tim Ferriss.

According to Wikipedia, as of 2016, The Tim Ferriss Show had over 80 million downloads. (wikipedia.org) Knowing this, if anyone sets out to discredit Tim Ferriss, they are essentially calling 80 million+ people idiots. I’d lithe like to compare the IQs of those who have read the books of Tim Ferriss to those who have read series such as the Twilight Saga.

Tim Ferriss has been known to experiment in depth on himself. I would not at all recommend some of the experiments that Ferriss has done but he is one-of a-kind, willing to take personal risk so he can learn and pass on that knowledge to others.

As for the claims of not having science to back up his claims, let us not not forget that Ferriss graduated from Princeton University in 2000, where he studied in the Neuroscience and East Asian Studies departments.

Ferriss is a man of innovative thinking and while every idea he has may not be correct or backed up by the scientific community, that does not mean he is wrong on all or any accounts.

Mr. Ferriss is not the first author to be attacked by these writers who are accustomed to using only textbooks and ‘well-established scientific data’ to reach conclusions.

I suppose it never occurs to some people that science starts as a theory and oftentimes revolutionary thinkers are ridiculed by minds unable to conceive anything outside the basic textbook norm.

Dr. Ignaz Philipp (July 1, 1818 – August 13, 1865) who pioneered hand-washing as part of routine medical practice for health-care workers was ridiculed and eventually sent to an insane asylum for his ‘radical ideas’.

Semmelweis’ hypothesis, that there was only one cause, that all that mattered was cleanliness, was extreme at the time, and was largely ignored, rejected or ridiculed. He was dismissed from the hospital and harassed by the medical community in Vienna, which eventually forced him to move to Budapest.’

THE SEMMELWEIS REFLEX

“The Semmelweis reflex or “Semmelweis effect” is a metaphor for the reflex-like tendency to reject new evidence or new knowledge because it contradicts established norms, beliefs or paradigms.” (http://semmelweis.org)

One need not look very hard for examples of people who are ridiculed only to be later proven right, all too often after death.

People who like to ridicule others thoughts are found everywhere and always ready to give their opinion, which most often happens to be worth the same amount they charge for it.

I wonder how many of the techniques outlined in The 4 Hour Body these critics have actually tried.

Do the countless testimonies from individuals using the text from Tim Ferriss count for anything or is ‘cold-hard science’ the only thing that the world consists of? Does science have everything figured out?

I love and respect science but anyone not willing to accept other theories and not willing to read books that can give them ideas to develop new theories, is merely making noise when they speak.

With all this said, I do not agree with everything Tim Ferriss says. To agree with everything any man, woman or institution says is a bit ridiculous. I am however a fan of Tim Ferriss. As it has been mentioned, he has a lot of credentials and he is not afraid to think outside the box. Furthermore he is not in the least bit concerned in what the critics have to say, and I doubt many of his fans are interested either.

This makes me wonder...exactly who are these critics writing to? What kind of an audience wants to listen to someone complain about another person and their ideas?

~ Weylon Elliott

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Thank you Wey, the article made very interesting reading. During my college days, in literature we also had to read and analyse critical essays. Especially, that of Addison and T.S.Elliot and Charles Lamb. We have so many aisles of critical essays in the library;))
A critical essay is a composition that offers an analysis, interpretation, and/or evaluation of a text. Maybe that's why there are many critics of Tim Ferriss;))